Barrow says U.D.P. cannot expel Penner as elected area rep

Dean Barrow

As we told you, Penner will be back in Belize on Sunday and he is not resigning as yet. Via phone today, he also told News Five that he will be meeting with his constituents in next week. The Prime Minister points out that the Constitution makes it clear that barring resignation or crossing the floor, the U.D.P. cannot expel Penner from his elected position as Area Representative of Cayo Northeast.

Prime Minister Dean Barrow

“We cannot expel Penner from the House of Representatives. We can expel him from the Cabinet and we have done so. In terms of this new development the constitution is quite clear and I refer you to fifty nine (a) one and it reads as follows – “where a person resigns from being a member of a political party under the circumstances referred to in Section fifty-nine two (e) that person shall, within seven days of so resigning, inform the leader in the House of Representatives of the political party as a candidate of which that person was elected, and the leader of the political party shall so notify the Speaker in writing of such resignation.” Two – where a person crosses the floor under the circumstances referred to in Section two (e) the leader of the House of Representatives of the political party as a candidate of which that person was elected shall, within seven days of such crossing of the floor, so notify the Speaker in writing of such member having crossed the floor,” and then it goes on to say what happens after in fact these triggers would have occurred. The fifty-nine two (e) of which it speaks is merely that section that says if “having been a candidate of a political party and elected to the House of Representatives as a candidate of that political party he resigns from that political party or crosses the floor, he of course vacates his seat.” Fifty-nine two (f) speaks as well to if he’s recalled as a member of the House of Representatives under any law providing for the recall of elected representatives before the expiry of their normal term of office he vacates his seat.”